A/HRC/20/14 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolution 19/19. In the report, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism lists his key activities undertaken from 18 August 2011 to 2 April 2012 and focuses thematically on the human rights of victims of acts of terrorism and the corresponding international obligations of States. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2. On 19 September 2011, the Special Rapporteur participated in the SecretaryGeneral’s Symposium on International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation, where he gave a statement1 on Promoting human rights and the rule of law while countering terrorism, during the fifth session. 3. On 12 October, the Special Rapporteur held consultations in London with representatives of civil society, lawyers and national human rights institutions from different regions. 4. On 20 October, the Special Rapporteur delivered his first statement2 and presented his first annual report (A/66/310) to the General Assembly, in which he identified two related areas falling within his mandate, on which he intended to focus, namely States’ obligations towards victims of terrorism (para. 20), and States’ duty to promote strategies for the prevention of terrorism. 5. In October 2011, the Special Rapporteur held meetings in New York with the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee; the 1267/1989 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee and its Ombudsperson; the permanent representatives of Germany and Mexico to the United Nations; the United States Deputy Representative for the Economic and Social Council and various representatives of civil society. At the Secretariat level, he met with the Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) and participated in a round-table meeting with the Working Group on Security Council resolution 1624 (2005) of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), concerning the human rights implications of Security Council resolutions 1624 (2005) and 1373 (2001). 6. On 15 November, the Special Rapporteur delivered a statement 3 at the international seminar “Terrorism and human rights standards,” organized by the regional office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Santiago de Chile and the Chilean National Institute for Human Rights. 7. On 11 March 2012, the Special Rapporteur published an article in the Danish newspaper, Berlingske Tidende, authored jointly with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the European Union Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, to mark the European Day in Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism. 1 2 3 See http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Terrorism/SG-SymposiumIntervention _SR _on_CT_HR.pdf. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx? NewsID=11736&LangID=E. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx? NewsID=11737&LangID=E. 3